Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told a special session of the UN General Assembly focusing on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy on Friday, “The Palestinians always have another excuse for their terror. They always seek to excuse the inexcusable.”
Speaking about the latest violence in Jerusalem, Danon pointed out, “Right now, the excuse is the Temple Mount.
“In the past, it was the reunification of Jerusalem, and before that, the very establishment of the State of Israel,” Danon continued.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be misled by false narratives and attempts to deceive the international community. The real cause of terrorism in Palestinian society is the same as it is all over the world. It is the delegitimization of the other.
“It is the rejection of people of other faiths and nationalities, and it is the glorification of senseless violence against innocents as legitimate forms of expression,” the Ambassador said.
On Saturday, Muslim worshipers prayed peacefully in the Al Aqsa mosque and in the Temple Mount compound for the first time in two weeks, since the murder of two Israeli police officers by three Arab terrorists from the northern Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm and the subsequent installation of upgraded security measures by Israel in response.
The metal detectors and security cameras sparked riots by Arabs who were egged on by local and foreign Islamist leaders who found in the measures a perfect excuse with which to whip up the Muslim masses against Israel, inciting them to violence in the streets of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Arabs resumed violence in the Old City of Jerusalem again on Friday as soon as midday Islamic prayers ended at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Temple Mount compound, although Israeli police were able to bring the riots to an end more quickly.
According to the Jordanian Islamic Waqf Authority, 10,000 Muslims were present in the mosque for prayers. Only men over age 50 and women were allowed by Israeli authorities to enter the Temple Mount compound.